| Here's
a checklist of settings, solutions and workarounds in no particular order.
It may take a combination of changes to get the system running smoothly.
If the Spark system doesn't adhere to the following rules though, then
that's possibly why it won't work properly.
THE PC SYSTEM
> Some
systems have problems with NIC cards as it is a PCI bandwidth hog. Set
up a separate Windows user account with the NIC disabled when editing.
It may need to be removed altogether.
> A
fixed swap file size should be set. To do this simply make the minimum
and maximum virtual memory setting the same. Try setting it at 87% of the
RAM that is installed (it should not be set at less than 48MB). Also try
it at twice the RAM.
> If
the swap file is set on a non-boot drive drive, always create a small one
on the boot drive as well (minimum of 32MB). If the non-boot drive
goes down without this extra swap file, Windows may not boot up at all.
> Win9x
isn't ideal for use with the Spark; if all else fails, WinNT4sp3 should
be tried.
> By
default NT enables 256K of level 2 cache. Users of NT4 with 512K of L2
cache should manually inform NT about the extra memory by editing the registry.
Info on that is found here.
> Also
under NT, keep in mind that if a software application is installed and
it subsequently asks you to reboot, or any new hardware is added, the current
service pack should be re-installed. This is very important and ensures
that vital NT system files are not overwritten by third party 'variants'
and will prevent certain faults such as server storage errors.
> With
Win9x, the provider of the 1394 Driver should be Adaptec not Microsoft.
Ensure that this is the case by going to Start>Control Panel>System>Device
Manager and selecting the 1394 controller. Go to Properties then Driver
and select Update Driver. Finally select show all compatible drivers. Choose
the latest version of Adaptec provided driver, then update the driver by
using the update files from DPS's FTP site.
HARD DRIVES
> The footage must
be captured onto and played off an approved SCSI AV drive.
> The
AV drive should ideally be a separate disk from the boot drive - not a
partition.
> For
capture and playback, the AV drive must be able to sustain DV's
continuous
data rate of 3.6MB/s, but since background Windows applications may
momentarily interrupt the process, 5MB/s minimum is recommended.
Run
Benchpress
and ensure that the drive meets this standard.
> Enable
read/write caching on the AV drive by using Adaptec's EZ-SCSI or similar.
> Point
any DV software that utilizes scratch disks or a temporary file system
to the AV drive. In Premiere, specify the scratch disk option "Same as
project", and save projects onto the AV drive. All important speed sensitive
files such as previews will then end up on the AV drive.
> The
AV drive should not be compressed, either with NTFS compression
or Win9x's DriveSpace. Set Windows Explorer to show compressed drives in
a different color.
> All
AV data should be on the AV drive before the edit session begins. Pulling
WAVs, bitmaps and clips from other sources, even another drive on the same
PC, can cause delays.
> Make
sure that the drive has the correct firmware version.
> There
should be at least 20% free space on all hard drives at all times to
retain an efficient working system.
SPARK SOFTWARE
> Spark
v2.00final - Has a hard time recognizing
certain DV devices, and has capture problems.
> Spark
v2.01final - Bugged! Causes 'Bad Format'
errors
that continue even after it has been uninstalled. Delete all AVIs created
with this version and uninstall it immediately. AVOID
AT ALL COSTS.
> Spark
v2.01beta1 - Don't uninstall it with Add/Remove
as astonishingly it removes ALL video and audio drivers and DLLs!
> Spark
v2.01beta3 - Considered to be one of the
most reliable drivers. Windows 95
and Windows NT users
should try this one first. Get it here.
> Spark
v2.02beta2 - Latest beta. Possibly unstable,
although some are having luck with it. Direct reports from DPS indicate
a potential registry problem with Windows
98 - 2.02B2 may fix it. If captured filenames
become garbled and messed up, try this release. Get it here.
> Spark
v2.02 final - The release version of 2.02
beta 2. Get it here.
The link is broken, go to http://www.dps.com,
select Driver Update, and select DSP Spark Direct DV Editor.
> When changing Spark drivers
it's probably not a bad idea to use the manual uninstall PDF from DPS.We
have placed it on a page here.
> Spark
with Premiere. When installing Spark and
Premiere for the first time, ensure that Premiere is installed first
as the Spark installation looks for edit packages such as Premiere and
installs a small 'preset' so it's possible to output to the Spark codec.
Although, the preset can be created manually if the packages have been
installed in the wrong order.
> Premiere
and VA users suffering from glitchy scrubbing or crashes should ensure
that the Spark's drivers are set to `Output video to desktop only' and
not `Output video to DV Device only' or `Output video to both'.
COMMON PROBLEMS AND FIXES
FIREWIRE
RESETS CAUSED BY...
> 'Dirty'
electricity or brownouts. Noticeable in offices with ACs or homes with
white goods such as washing machines. An individual UPS back-up battery
system for the edit PC helps.
> PCI
problems. If installed, remove the NIC card. Also disable TSRs such as
virus killers, screen savers and power management during edit sessions.
> Broken
firewire cable or firewire connection. Very common. Try a different DV
device and a new firewire cable.
> One
specifically identified culprit is the Supercom motherboard. Check the
date of the BIOS and, if necessary, download and flash the latest BIOS
upgrade. Click here
for Supercom's BIOS update page. Read all documentation before attempting
to flash the MB.
AUDIO DROPOUTS
OR 'CLIPPING'
> Caused
by firewire transmissions of over modulated audio that exceeds the auto
gain setting on the DV device. It often happens when a voice over is combined
with a music track. Usually it's unnoticeable when editing, and only appears
when finally outputting to tape. If the auto gain cannot be changed on
the DV device (usually it can't) then the audio will have to be 'normalized'.
To do this, render out the audio to a single WAV and normalize it using
a sound editor such as Sound Forge or Goldwave. If that facility is not
available, reduce the volume level during the edit with 10% decrements
and re-render and test until the clipping stops.
AUDIO BEEPS
> Sometimes
randomly appear during capture, and some systems suffer more than others.
Could be caused by electrical brownouts - see Firewire Resets above.
Other potential culprits are dirty tape heads on the DV device or a slightly
damaged DV tape.
> Windows 9x users may want
to try Beepfix,
an MS-DOS based application that purportedly automates the beep removal
process from a captured AVI. When we last tried it, it didn't work under
Windows NT though.
> It
is also possible to remove the beeps manually by using a sound editor such
as Sound Forge or Goldwave. No other remedies are known at this time.
> In
a recent DPS forum posting it was revealed that the following may help
with audio pops. Go to Settings>Control Panel>Multimedia>Devices>Audio
Compression Codecs. Double click on Microsoft PCM Converter to go to it's
properties. Change the priority to 1 and ensure "Use this codec" is selected.
Finally press the 'apply' button.
GETTING THE
PLAYLIST TO WORK
> ALL
video clips must have an audio track, even if it's silent.
> Audio
tracks must be rendered to the same sample rate.
> Create
a ten second clock at the beginning of the playlist, as it can take the
Spark's playlist facility a few seconds to 'get up to speed'. Premiere
5.1 has a built in feature to do this. Don't forget to add a silent audio
track to it as well.
JERKY PLAYBACK,
GREY PIXELS, OR DROPPED FRAMES ON CAPTURE
> This
problem may be remedied by setting the desktop resolution to 800x600 256
colors during capture and playback. Under Win9x, setting the graphic acceleration
to zero might help as well. None of this should adversely alter the final
images output to tape.
> Ensure
that no other programs are running during capture and playback, this includes
TSR software such as virus killers and power management utilities.
> After
a long (Premiere) render, the system sometimes may take a little time to
close the large AVI on the AV drive. It's a good idea to wait a few seconds
for this operation to complete before attempting to play the footage back
over the firewire.
> Play
the clip once just on the computer monitor, without sending it through
the firewire. When this initial playback has been completed, often the
clip can then be successfully sent to the DV device, as the system
will have cached a sufficient portion of the clip to cover interruptions
or slow hard drives.
> If
the system has a FastTrak RAID then try going to Device Manager,
SCSI Controllers, Promise Technology Inc. FASTTRAK Controller, Properties,
Settings, and check to make sure the Adapter Settings box reads "TRANSFERMODE=2;COUNTTHRESHOLD=128;".
If it doesn't, go to Control Panel, UltraTune, select "Audio/Video Editing"
and move the "PCI bus utilization" slider all the way to "Less".
> The
system may have a fragmented hard drive. Try defragging the AV drive; under
Windows 9x select Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter.
Unfortunately, Windows NT doesn't come with a defragmentation package,
so a third party one will have to be purchased. Two good ones are Diskeeper
and Speed Disk, part of Norton
Utilities for NT. Ensure that the
drive is supposed to be defragged; some RAID drives should not be defragged
with third party software.
> Initial
feedback indicates that NT users should steer clear of service pack 4 and
possibly service pack 5. These later service packs may install certain
DirectDraw elements from DX5/6 over service pack 3's DX3. This may contribute
to jerky playback, or failed playback after a few seconds or minutes. Unfortunately,
uninstalling the service pack may not be sufficient to remove the problem,
and a fresh NT install may be necessary. If the system works okay with
sp3 then upgrading to sp4/sp5 may not be the best move.
> NT
users try formatting the AV drive as FAT not NTFS. Doing so will limit
you to 4GB partitions, but may increase the drive's speed sufficiently.
> Check
for a power supply problem; if the drive is internal check the cable, if
the drive is external check the PSU for power.
THE TWO GIG
LIMIT
>
It's an OS problem, not a DPS Spark one. Currently it is not possible to
create a single file larger than 2GB (approximately nine minutes and thirty
seconds of DV) with Windows or MacOS. Set up a batch capture list to grab
the rushes in over lapping chunks.
PROBLEMS WITH
ONE GIG+ FILES
>
If the system has problems playing back an AVI larger than 1GB, then check
the interleave setting, it should be set at 1 frame for large AVI files.
STILL NOT WORKING?
>
The Spark card is a 'bus-mastering' card, and needs to be in a slot that
allows for this to happen. These are usually the first four slots that
are closest to the processor. Try not to use a slot greater than four.
>
Make sure the Spark has its own interrupt request (IRQ). Check this in
device manager, select the computer, then click on properties. This should
list all devices in the computer that use IRQs. If one is being shared
with the Spark, try moving the IRQ of the other device inside Windows,
if this isn't possible, some BIOS manipulations may have to be performed.
It may be necessary to physically move the card around, trading places
with other cards as necessary.
>
Ensure that the SCSI drive is terminated properly. If a lot of spiking
up and down is witnessed with Benchpress,
it is most likely there is a termination problem.
> If
the Spark app doesn't output to camera, try using Video Action.
>
Although initial reports suggest that the core DLLs are the same as the
latest beta release, it may be of use to try Hot Connect Ultra 2
from Adaptec as a replacement for the Spark drivers. Get the latest releases
from Adaptec here.
> To
narrow down playback failure causes, load a recently captured AVI into
the Spark app. Select Monitor Out to get the image out to the DV device
and then wait - do not press play. If the picture remains on your
video monitor and the firewire connection is retained for more than fifteen
minutes then it's possibly a problem with the hard drive, SCSI connection,
system speed etc. If the system fails even without playing the AVI, then
the Spark app is being interrupted by another application or there's a
possible malfunction with the wn1394.vxd file. Check in Properties that
wn1394.vxd in Win\System is at least version xxxxxx.30 or xxxxxx.32.
> If
all else fails, it might be necessary to refresh the system from scratch.
This could involve low leveling the hard drives and re-installing the OS.
As any number of software drivers could be the cause of the system's failures,
initially only install drivers from disks that came with the computer.
It's also important to remember that only essential software should be
loaded onto the system, as unnecessary third party applications might overwrite
working DLLs with incompatible ones. If possible, try swapping hardware
cards one by one with known working peripherals. Keep testing the system
at various stages and do not install further apps if a problem is suspected.
Sometimes the most bizarre and unthinkable reasons are the cause of system
failures... Keep at it and good Luck!
UNRESOLVED ISSUES
>
Color/luminance shifts with transitions. Apparently only affects PAL systems
with MMX processors in them. It is currently not known what causes it or
how to properly remedy it.
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